We need Answers

There are about 5 commission inquiries which are currently going on in South Africa right now. The Marikana commission of inquiry, Seriti Arms deal, Lwandle, Khayelitsha and Tongaat mall inquiries.

The big question is, will all these commissions of inquiry the government has set up give the people in this country answers or are they just wasting taxpayer’s money? Millions are being spent on these inquiries but the end result is disappointing. It seems like every time this country faces a tragedy or a political matter arises the only solution the government comes up with is have an inquiry in that matter to calm the nation down.

What will these inquiries solve exactly? Will the people who are found guilty be punished? Will they even find those people or will it be one of those blame games? Political analyst Anthony Butler said commissions were mostly used by the government as a tool to control public opinion and buy time and this statement has somewhat been proven to be true. None of these commissions have given people any answers, instead they have been put on hold or some important people resign, nothing positive has been reported and it seems like there is no way forward.

Meanwhile, a lot of money has been spent and it seems like these commissions of inquiry have been dragging on and on. People have somehow forgotten about the Marikana Massacre because they were left to think that a solution had been found to deal with this tragedy. Same with Lwandle evictions, it has become yesterday’s news but no solution has been reached.

How much of taxpayer’s money does the government has to waste in order for the people of this country to get proper answers? This is truly a costly way to buy time and shut the nation up. Inquiries have become a trend in this country. With this new trend, one hopes that the people who are responsible for whatever crime they have committed are punished.

The bad news is that Zuma is not obliged to release the findings of the Seriti Arms deal commission of inquiry. There is nothing that compels the president to make the findings public. He can simply say the "I have read the contents and taken note of it". Period.
And this is what often happens after months of testimony and huge costs. In many cases it is simply a delaying tactic so that it can just fade away into public apathy.

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NormalCitizen
2014-08-01 10:16:33 AM

Usually the government issues inquiries to stall the ppl. It is designed to let the dust settle...and bury the matter ifthey cannot find a scapegoat.
The hard fact of marikana was that protesters became a threat, and the action used was in fact the correct action. Problem is , 40 ppl died and that is wrong and makes us look bad. Nothing justifies a killing... so there is no wrong or right. They just stalling to let the case go dead.

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Margaret Cox
2014-08-01 03:29:41 PM

They just dither and delay until another scandal comes along to take the attention away. They never have to wait long...